


The couple of table 27

by Czeriah



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Aromantic Natasha Romanov, Asexual Steve Rogers, Asexuality Spectrum, Canon Disabled Character, F/M, Gen, Gray Ace Bucky Barnes, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mention Of Homophobia, Not the main focus tho, Panromantic Characters, Waiter job is hard, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5971801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Czeriah/pseuds/Czeriah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>« Oh, look, it’s them again. »</p><p>That had to be the most pronounced sentence in the restaurant.</p><p>___<br/>Or the AU where Steve and Bucky are two regulars at a restaurant and the staff decide to set them up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The couple of table 27

**Author's Note:**

> This is all my work fault. Half of what's in that fic actually happened to me sometime during the last three years. I am so Natasha on all the waitress part of this.  
> Anyway, this is the result of me working too much and reading too many meet cutes, I hope I did an ok job.
> 
> As always, English isn't my first language, i had the luck of having the amazing BustyBarnes Beta this baby for me, she has the patience of a saint with me and all my tpos, weird phrasing, and general unconfidence in what I'm doing. She totally deserve all the cookies in the world. 
> 
> Enjoy your read =)

« Oh, look, it’s them again. »

That had to be the most pronounced sentence in the restaurant. The Shield was one of the bigger diners in one of the busiest parts of Brooklyn. Even so, the staff was mostly composed of close friends and that, on top of the surprisingly good food, was the main reason the place was so popular. The atmosphere was practically a replica of what would usually only exist in cheesy romantic films.

Which was probably the reason why this was happening to them. 

“Look Clint, if you’re going to be all mushy about them again, I don’t want to come near the bar anymore.”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that. You find them as cute as everybody else does. God, even Darcy is trying to set them up. She seats them at tables closer to each other each time they come in.”

‘They’ were two of their regulars. Steve, a blonde, bulky guy with a heart bigger than the Statue of Liberty with pretty blue eyes to die for. Pretty much everybody had a crush on him and his nickname around the place was Captain Sunshine. Bucky, on the other hand, was brunette, with eyes the colour of the ice. He was always wearing a beanie on top of his long hair and emitting a “I’m gothic, don’t talk to me” vibe. His personal nickname was Sergeant Dark and Broody. As you could easily guess, both had history with the army. As strange it might sound, the two had never talked. They had exchanged a couple of looks, a handful of blushes, and a fair amount of nods. That was enough for the feminine contingent _(and Clint)_ of the restaurant to try and set them up, and the rest of the staff to follow the sitcom. It was even stranger when you knew how often they were there. 

Steve was studying art in the college nearby after coming back from Iraq. He was getting a degree in art therapy and was pretty good at it. Bucky, on the other hand, had his physical therapist, Bruce Banner, just across the road. Bruce was also a regular and he was the one who introduced the sergeant to this place after a particularly painful session, about six months ago. 

For the first couple of months, Steve and Bucky’s paths didn’t cross, but when they did, oh boy, Natasha will always remember the day… “Shouldn’t you go and take Cap’s order?” Clint interrupted her inner monologue. Natasha glared at Clint, and made her way to the blonde who sitting at table seventeen. “So, the usual I guess?”

“Hello Natasha. I’m fine, thanks for asking. I’m not sure if I should go for the hot dog today or stick with the usual…”

“If only everybody here knew what a sassy asshole you are; my life would be so much easier. God knows why nobody ever believes me…”

“Yeah, you’re right, the usual is the safer choice.” Nobody else in the restaurant knew, but Natasha was actually pretty good friends with Captain Sunshine. They bonded over a dry sense of humour, a love for art in all shapes, and a passion for martial arts. They had casual conversations every time he came for a burger _(cooked medium rare, no onions, with a side of French fries),_ a movie night in one of their apartments once a week, and most importantly a sparring date at the gym next door every Saturday morning. Steve made it clear since the beginning that no one was to know how she could kick his ass in a heartbeat. This last thing was the main reason their whole friendship wasn’t common knowledge, even if she was pretty sure it was obvious they liked each other more than the waitress-regular guest relationship. “You like me that way, Romanoff. Don’t even try to tell me otherwise.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare. You would make me watch that awful romantic comedy again.”

“What’s Your Number? It’s a masterpiece!”

“In cheesiness, probably yes. And the guy in it looked far too much like you for my comfort. He was naked for half the film…”

“You’re the worst.”

“So I’ve been told. Anyway, your burger is coming right away. And please, if you don’t want him to notice you, stop watching him so intently.”

“What do you mean? I’m just sketching!” Somehow, the blush that was taking residence on his cheeks was telling her otherwise. After all, he did spend an awful amount of time sketching in the general vicinity of a certain dark and broody corner.

Natasha walked away from him still chuckling and went to the kitchen to send Steve’s order. After five minutes of Thor and Loki yelling at each other about how to cook his burger the perfect way, she turned around and made her way to her second favourite customer. “Hey Sergeant Dark and Broody, what’s up today?”

If Steve had no idea what the staff in Shield was calling him _(Natasha was pretty proud of herself on that one)_ , “Sergeant Dark and Broody” _(also known as James Buchanan-call-me-Bucky Barnes)_ knew perfectly well what was going on in the gossip side of the place. The sound that answered her question was not from this world, and that could only mean one thing. “Let me guess, insomnia again?”

“Nightmare, but it’s pretty much the same thing from where I stand. “ 

“Omelette and bacon it is in that case.”

“I love you.”

“Hold your horses handsome. Keep that for table 17.”

“You’re still on that? Really? I speak to the guy two times and I’m already married to him with two kids in your head. You girls really need a life outside of this place…”

“How dare you. I will voluntarily forget the bacon on your order if you keep up that way, mister.” The look of pure horror on James’ face was worth everything in this world, so Natasha served him a big glass of water, and added the cherry on the cake: “Drink plenty of water if you’re going to continue drooling on the table. Should I bring you more napkins, too?” She turned around to the sound of James spitting out the mouthful of water he had just started drinking and smiled. 

She sent his order to the kitchen as well and went back to stand next to the pass. It was one of her favourite vantage points in the restaurant. She could see the whole place from there: Darcy looking at her nails in the reception area, sometimes glancing in 15’s and 17’s directions; Clint, in the bar, was shaking a cocktail. She took a couple more seconds to appreciate the view and then turned her attention to Pepper. Pepper Potts was a tall, beautiful woman, and also the general manager of the restaurant. The owner, Tony Stark, had bought the place on a whim a couple of years ago and, with her help, literally raised the place from its own ashes. In the kitchen behind her, she could hear the happy bickering of the two gigantic Swedish brothers who made the food in this place so special. They had their issues, but damn, they could really grill a mean burger those two. 

Sharon and Bobby, the two other waitresses were chatting in a corner, trying to look busy. It was a Monday evening and the place was pretty dead, to be fair. Natasha made a note in her head to send one them home early if business didn’t pick up in the next hour. There’s only a certain amount of times you could check the salt and pepper before it starts looking suspicious. 

As the Head Waitress, Natasha had the hard responsibility of the floor. Pepper was slowly teaching her how to manage and she had to admit that she was really enjoying it so far. “SERVICE!”

“Oh my god, Loki, I’m right here, you don’t have to yell like that!”

“I know, I just like to piss you off.” Just a second after, a young man with silver hair appeared next to the pass to pick up the tray. “Don’t worry Pietro, I got this. It’s Captain Sunshine’s burger.”

Natasha grabbed the plate and made her way to Steve. The guy was again looking hopelessly in James’ direction. How those two still hadn’t even talked to each other was beyond her. 

She had to do something about it. She had to make a plan. But for that, she would need all the help she could muster. 

She was going to have to speak to Darcy.

*** 

A couple of days later, the girls were all sitting at a table in the restaurant. The place was pretty much empty and Pepper has decided that they had earned a break. There were two plates in front of them, one full of chicken breast and another one full of sweet potato fries.

The conversation, as usual, was mostly about their customers.

“Oh my god, Nat, I didn't tell you about this table last night. The biggest asshole of the century. He sent the food back at least twice because it wasn't cooked enough apparently. He ordered it medium! If he wanted it cremated he could have just said so!”

Natasha smiled at that. It was a usual complaint, but it was always annoying when people implied that they didn’t know how to do their job. She has halfway through her answer when Darcy seemed to appear out of thin air.

“Hello, beautifuls! What's up?”

“Darcy! Just the woman I wanted to see.”

“I can smell gossip. What do you need me for?”

“Well now that everybody is here, I can explain. We need to set up Captain S and Sergeant D&B on a date. I can't take their pining anymore.”

Bobby and Sharon started to giggle on the other side of the booth and Natasha took a second to look at Sharon. She knew the girl used to have a crush on The Captain when he first started to come here and Nat didn't want that to jeopardize the plan. Satisfied by what she saw, she shrugged for a second. Even with the extra help it wouldn’t be an easy task.

The three girls were chatting excitedly and throwing all kind of ideas, some of them doable some of them...not.

“No, Darcy. I don't think locking them in the toilet would work. But keep the idea if we get desperate. Bobbi, I liked your idea of exchanging their food but I fear for our reputation. Sharon, no. No aphrodisiac in their coffee. Bad idea.”

“What about we manage to make them sit down at the same table? There’s only a certain amount of time you can avoid conversing with someone sitting in front of you.”

“Not a bad idea but that will ask for some organization and good timing. What else?”

“We could…”

“Are you planning on harassing customers again?”

“For Christ sake, Clint, how do you manage to always be so silent!” Bobbi almost yelled. 

The man had appeared right behind her like a ghost, and that wasn't something you’d expect from someone like him.

Clint was a big guy, used to be part of the American archer team a couple of years before, unfortunately a bad injury had stopped a promising career. From what Natasha knew, he would have made it to the Olympic team if what he refers to as “the incident” hadn't happened. Natasha was at least 90% sure this story was a lie, but with no proof, she kept silent. She liked her friendship with him enough to let it pass. Plus, she really enjoyed watching him use the excuse of a bad arm to never shake a single cocktail on busy nights.

“We're not trying to harass anybody, don't be ridiculous. Though, i'm not completely against threatening them with bodily harm if nothing else work.”

“Is it about the whole Steve and Bucky situation again? You girls really don't have anything better to talk about, do you? Bucky is starting to be suspicious, you know.”

“And how would you know that?” Sharon asked.

“That might have popped up in the conversation we had last time we had a movie night.”

There was a pause and then all hell broke loose.

“What the Hell Clint?”

“Movie night?”

“Last time?”

“Since when are you friends with the Sergeant?”

“Well, I thought you knew. We were friends before he came here for the first time, I even knew him before he lost his arm. Actually, I'm even the reason he came here the first time with Bruce.”

“And you didn't think to inform us about that because...?”

“Well, I honestly thought you knew.”

Natasha wasn't as surprised as the rest of the girls, her mind was going a thousand miles an hour.

“Clint. You have to help us.”

“No.”

“It wasn't a question you know.”

“Damnit.”

“Don't be like that. You ship them as much as everybody else. Hell, even Stark made a comment about them a couple of days ago.”

“Stark? No way, tell me more!”

“Don't change the conversation. You are now part of operation matchmaking. You have to give us some info about what Bucky thinks of the Captain. I’ll take care of doing the same with Steve. In the meantime, I want you, Darcy, to organise the ‘sharing table’ plan. And if nothing works, Sharon, you are in charge of locking them in the toilet.”

A moment of silence took place at the table after Natasha’s speech. Everybody was looking at each other with determination in their eyes. Well, everybody but Clint who was rubbing his eyes tiredly. 

***

Part of what made The Shield so popular was his layout. The restaurant was open for most of the day, the last service being around eleven at night. The bar, however, was open much later. Most of the younger patrons, were staying after their late dinner for a couple of drink before heading to a club.

The restaurant was nearly empty, it was quite late already and Clint was...well, he was bored. It was the middle of the week on an evening and he had maybe twenty tickets to make all night. Natasha wasn’t even here to entertain him with her crazy guest stories. It was her day off and she was happily texting about the bath she was about to take _(with pictures)_ and honestly, he just wanted to die of boredom.

“Hello Stranger...whoa Clint, what’s with the face, seriously? Did someone die?”

“Bucky thank god! I was about to die from boredom.”

“It is pretty quiet in here, what’s going on?”

“Well, we are a week before Christmas. So there’s that. By the way, are you doing anything on Christmas?”

“Well, I’m with my sister uptown on Christmas day but not if you have anything in mind for the 24th. As long as it doesn’t end with me being too drunk to handle my nieces screeching, I’m in.”

“Well, we’re planning on a staff dinner here, Natasha will be here, and we are allowed to invite one friend. Tony Stark will be here. He’ll probably invite a couple of celebrities, he always does that. He says that it keeps his staff happy.”

“Ok, I’m in.”

“Great. I also know that Natasha is planning on inviting Steve.”

”Steve?”

“Don't play innocent, you know perfectly well who I'm talking about.”

“I don't know what you mean.” Bucky knew perfectly well what he meant, but he was extremely good at ignoring his own feelings and wasn't planning on changing anything about that just now.

“You're ridiculous man. You spend you all time here ogling each other and you haven't said a single word beside ‘Hi’ in six month. That's getting really annoying and I should warn you that Natasha is on your case”

“I'm guessing that should scare me ?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“I'll keep it in mind.”

“Anyway, why are you so against the idea of talking to him?”

“I don’t know, it’s just...You know when you really like something or someone, and you look at it from afar, you romanticize it so much. You make a hundred of stories and scenarios in your head, so much that you start thinking that reality will never be as perfect and amazing as what you imagined. It’s so much easier to just...not act on it, and keep the dream real…”

“Well, it’s beautiful, did you rehearse that?”

“Clint.”

“Ok, ok, I understand what you mean, and you should definitely think of becoming a writer or something because you’ve got a real talent here. But honestly Bucky, you’re taking the cowardly way out here. And I know you’re not a coward. You’re better than that.”

“Maybe I’m not the guy you knew anymore. I don’t feel like him anymore.”

“I know you are, deep down, and I also know that even if you’re not, I’ll still be your friend. I’m sure Steve will like you. Because even if you are a little bit more fucked up, you’re still a good guy.”

“If you say so.” Bucky sighed, his eyes drowning in the finger of scotch Clint helpfully poured for him. “If you say so…”

Clint opened his mouth to say something when the ticket machine next to him appeared to go crazy for a second. The ticket that was coming out of it kept getting longer.

“What the hell?”

Sharon appeared like magic as soon as he finished his sentence. “I’m sorry Clint. I got a table of twenty who just showed up and asked to have drinks in the garden, and of course they all went for cocktails.”

“Ok, it’s fine but i’m gonna need help to shake all of this. Can you call Wanda? I asked her to count the stock downstairs. And ask Pietro to come too if you can spare him.”

Sharon smiled. “Yeah, I’ll tell him to come over. There is nothing going on beside that so I can manage two tables and the pass.”

“Great. Thanks Sharon.”

Cint waved her away and went back to his mile long ticket, his eyebrows creased in concentration.

“Need help ? I can help with deciphering the ticket if you want.”

“You’d do that?” He slide the culprit to Bucky. “Just tell me everything that is not cocktail first…”

Bucky smiled and starting counting all the beers he could see.

The ticket took them twenty minutes to complete. Clint sent every drink as he finished them. Repeatedly, Clint saw Bucky talking with some guests coming from outside who were trying to figure out where their drinks were, but the brunette intercepted them all before they started yelling at Clint for being slow. He could hear them grumbling about the wait, and Bucky started gushing about how efficient this team was, look at this teamwork, it’s only one bartender….the praise never stopped coming. Clint even had to stifle a laugh when Bucky decided to go on about his injury to one extremely upset woman, which ended up with the woman wiping tears with one of the bar’s black napkin.

This guy was a phenomenon. Clint couldn’t understand how he didn’t want to work in customers service. He was so charismatic and he had such a way of talking to people. Well, everybody but his crush, obviously.

Once the ticket all set, the two men looked at each other with a smile. They went back to their initial position.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“Clint, you were the one complaining you were bored.”

“True, but that” he paused for emphasis. “was really not what i had in mind.”

“I believe you. That was wild.” Bucky took a sip of his drink, still half full. “On another note, still okay for you to come to the gym with me on wednesday? I don’t trust anybody else but you to spot me.”

“Yeah, of course. Say, eleven o’clock?”

“Perfect.”

****

“...And that’s how this guy spend half an hour of a busy service trying to convinces me that the earth was flat and that everything was a lie.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well you should, Tony Stark himself had to come and save me when he heard why I couldn’t serve my other tables.”

“I honestly can't believe there's still people who believe in conspiracy like that.”

“Come work as a waiter one of these days and you will start to believe some incredible stuff. I could write a book with all the stupid things people here put me through. And I'm not even just talking about the customers.” She paused, laughing with Steve for a second, before continuing. “Anyway, you are coming to our staff party on the 24th.”

That wasn’t a question and Steve knew it very well, it didn’t stop him to answer Natasha as if it was.

“Well, seeing as you have obviously decided I wasn’t otherwise occupied, yes, I guess I’ll come. May I ask why ?”

“No reason, I just want to see you wasted for once.”

She could see that he didn’t believe her, but she also knew that he knew there was no use on calling her on it. What Natasha wants, Natasha usually gets, and everybody preferred it if they weren’t physically hurt in the process. This woman was a spitfire, and if she had proven one thing more than once since they met, it was that size really didn’t matter.

She grinned like a cat and looked at the door very intensely for a second. She saw him from the corner of her eyes turn around to see what was so interesting and had to catch a giggle when he saw a very familiar silhouette. They watched him being taken to a nearby table and she saw him blushed when Bucky winked at him. 

He had to feel Natasha watching him and she was biting her lips really hard trying not to laugh at him.

He obviously did his best to ignore her and grabbed his sketchbook on a new page without a word.

She left, pretty sure that he wouldn't even realise it. A couple of minute passed before she came back with his food, and he was surprised to see her sit down on the sofa in front of him. 

“You’re not suppose to be working ?”

“I’m on my break, and you are literally my only customer right now, so…”

“So, why do I owe the pleasure of your oh, so sweet company ?”

“Don't be sarcastic, I wanna know what stops you from going over there and talk to the handsome guy who is winking at you every day. I can’t take the pinning anymore, it start to smell a lot like a seaside forest around here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know perfectly well what I am talking about and stop playing dumb it’s really not a good look on you.”

“Listen Nat, I consider you a friend, but please, accept that I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I’d just like to understand why you are so keen on sabotaging a chance to be happy in the egg like that. He is a great guy, and you both deserve to be happy.”

“I appreciate the sentiment Nat, I truly do, but I would love you to just let things be. I will explain everything one day, but not today and certainly not here. ”

Natasha let out breath. It was the first time she was seeing steve so worked up about something. She decided to let it go, for now. Her eyes fell on his fist which was clenched so tightly she was starting to worry he would hurt himself. She slowly went to put her small hands on top of his and give it a squeeze. 

“I’m sorry Steve. I just want to see you happy.”

He stayed quiet, but he relaxed ostensibly. They stayed silent for the remaining of Natasha’s break, just exchanging a hug before she left.

In the booth a couple of tables away, James looked at them with a sad smile.

***

It was one of these neverending days. The customers just kept coming, Bobbi and Maria both already had a meltdown, and Natasha was doing breathing exercises in the cupboard behind the reception, because as strong headed as she was, there were only a certain amount of bullshit and stress that she could take in one day.

She was feeling a little bit more like herself when she came out, just in time to hear a well known voice. 

“Bucky! Oh my god I am so happy to see someone sane.”

“That bad?”

“If I get one more person asking me stupid questions, let it be known that I plead the fifth.” She turned to Darcy. “Which table do we have for him?”

Darcy was just about to answer when a well known blond head appeared at the door. 

“Steve, perfect timing!”

The two girls exchanged a look; was that the occasion they had been waiting on? Steve and Bucky looked at each other, and Natasha had to repress a smile at the blush that she could see creeping up Steve’s cheeks. Darcy looked at the computer screen for a second and let out a dramatic breath.

“Ok, we might have a problem here guys. As you can see, we’re pretty packed. We do have one table, but it has been booked in about an hour. I hate having to do this but I’m afraid you are gonna have to bunked together this time…honestly, it's not up to our usual standards and it's only because I know you guys that I even offer the option.”

Both boys looked a bit panicked for a second, but Bucky was the first one to answer.

“Well, I don’t...mind? Do you?”

Steve looked like a deer in the headlights and waited a couple seconds before answering without looking at the brunette.

“I...I don’t mind either.”

“Ok! So that's perfect. Nat? Can you take them to table 27 please?”

The giggling receptionist gave all the required menus and rushed them away to welcome other customers. Natasha, a little sheepish, brought them both to the table, which, coincidently was in a pretty quiet and romantic part of the restaurant. The redhead cursed a little bit, remembering the conversation with Steve, and prayed that this wouldn't actually screw everything up. She sat them down with an honest “I'm sorry about that guys” and hoped that they believed her.

“Should I just get both your usual?”

They both nodded, pointedly not looking at each other. If the situation had been different she would have had a field day. She moved away from the table a bit awkwardly and almost run to the bar where Clint was watching everything with eyes round like an owl.

“Clint, I think I fucked up.”

“How did you manage to put them on the same table AND to fuck up in less than 10 seconds?”

Natasha then tried to explain the conversation she had with Steve.

“Ok, don't panic, I think they're talking.”

Natasha turned around and almost whiplashed herself only to have two excited coworkers almost yelling at her face, blocking all view she could have of the two wannabe lovebirds.

“Natasha! How did you and Darcy manage that? What's happening? I almost had a heart attack!”

She couldn't even tell who was saying what at this point. She took a long trying-to-be-calm breath.

“Ok. Everybody calm down. Now. Me include. Maria, you go back to your section, someone is waving. Bobbi, there is a service waiting on the pass and Pietro only has two hands. Clint, I need a coke. We'll talk later.” She paused, everybody was watching her expectantly. “And nobody even goes near table 27 but me. Code super VIP activated, pass the message to everyone.”

The silence at the end of her speech lasted for what seemed like forever before the group finally broke apart. By the time Natasha turned around to face Clint, he already had the requested drink up on the bar. She grabbed it in a swift movement and downed it as quickly.

“Oh my god, Clint, did you put vodka in there?”

“You looked like you needed it. And don’t look at me like that, I know you can handle a little shot. You are Russian.”

“You are lucky Stark hasn’t seen you doing that.”

“I’m lucky Pepper hasn’t see me, you mean. I’m sure Tony would actually encourage me.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

***

The Silence. It was almost suffocating. And at the same time...Steve let his eyes slide up for a second, it was strangely domestic? In a way, he was used to having Bucky’s presence around, his eyes drawn on him. He knew the way he talked to the different waitresses, how he liked his coffee. He could say just by the way he styled his hair if he was out of a consultation with Bruce or not _(yeah, he wasn’t very proud of himself in this one but he overheard a conversation with Clint on his way to the toilet)_. In a way, he knew some aspect of Bucky better than he knew Sam.

He had enough hindsight on himself to know that half of what he thought of awkwardness in this situation was his own anxiety. He wasn’t good with people. It was a fact. He still didn’t know how he managed to create such an easy relationship with Natasha. Sam had been his therapist after some of his heaviest surgery and the passing of his mother, so that didn’t really count, did it? If he was honest with himself, he knew that it was more Natasha’s doing than his. You couldn’t not want to talk to her, she just dissipated all the awkwardness in a second with her small talk and her empathy. 

But back to the current problem. He is sitting in front of Bucky. He knew that nothing was forcing him to talk to the guy. Technically he didn’t even know him. They exchanged a couple of hellos before and, yes, there had been a lot of pinning on his side. He liked what he’d seen; he likes complex people. But most of all, he loved trying to figure out people, and there were a whole bunch of things to figure out when you looked at Bucky. He had this aura that said he lived through some adventure but some pretty awful stuff also; that he ended up a little bruised along the way, might not be the round and slick person he was before. You could see the break in him, and you could also see the stitches.

Steve wasn’t like that. Steve was like a bone bruise. He was something that contained so much pain it was sometime unbearable, but from the outside, he was just his sunny self. And somehow, most of the time, he really was the ray of sunshine, like Natasha liked to call him. He had become extremely good at hiding his feelings.

Steve’s mind was always overcrowded. It was always full of noise, of thoughts and ideas. It was like living with a very loud rock band playing emotionally sad and violent songs all the time. Sometimes, these songs were what helps keep you going, like a war cry, making you want to fight the day with a smile. And sometime, those same songs were the one wounding you the most, because somewhere along the line, the lyrics that drive you start to mean something completely different.

But most of all, Steve has a secret. He was personally really comfortable with it, and had made his peace with it a long time ago. He had been sick for most of his childhood and had understood very quickly than neither boys or girls were really attracted to a skinny body like him. But as years went by and puberty finally came, he started to fill up nicely, and became strong enough to handle most of the heavy surgery he desperately needed to be considered as normal and healthy by most. 

For a long time, he thought that his disinterest in physical love was just an effect of his different conditions and then, when it appeared that it wasn’t, he thought that maybe it was his mild depression. But now, years after the hardest part of his life he knew. He was just part of this strange one percent of the population that just didn’t want to have sex. The problem with this situation was that, as much as Steve is aware and comfortable with that, it’s not the case of the reste of the world. 

He had stop counting how many people asked him if he was sure, if it wasn’t just a side effect of his, you know, ailment, or telling him that it was just in his head. Or, his personal “favorite”, that he just hasn’t found the “right person”.

And man, he was sick of it.

So now, he just didn’t even try anymore. Celibacy was just easier than trying to escape the whole explanation and then being hurt by your crush who couldn’t understand that you liked cuddling alright but please, nothing more.

But he craved it, this closeness. He wanted to be in love again, to get to know someone. He wanted to learn how to be intimate with someone without having to be sexual. He wanted to go see a movie and to have a three hour long conversation afterward, to end up in a tickling war, a couple of kisses, and a cuddle. 

He wanted to hold hand, to share a sunset. he wanted his own PG-13 romantic comedy. He was just so scared to be misunderstood again, to be hurt. He didn’t want to try and create something for the other person to realise that they couldn’t handle not having sex. Sam, in all his support, kept telling him to look for another Ace. But it was already so difficult for him to find someone he wanted to be friend with in general!

“Hum...so.”

Steve blenched. He was sure he had to look like a spooked cat. He slowly turned his head toward the man in front of him. Bucky’s eyes were bright with contained laughter and he could see his lips slowly curling up.

“I didn’t mean to startle you, but you seemed pretty deep in thought.”

“I, you, well, yeah.”

Great, Steve, you lost the capacity of talking like a normal human being. Subject, verb, complement. Not so complicated, you can do it.

“I hope you don’t mind we ended up at the same table, I mean, I’ve seen you pretty often around so it’s a little bit like I know you already but we’ve never actually talked. I feel weird because I kinda know your name already…”

Steve was listening to Bucky...rambling? That was definitely rambling. It was actually pretty funny. He wondered if it was Bucky’s defense mechanism. The man was so cute, getting all kind of worked up, while Steve….was again going back to talking to himself instead of talking to Bucky.

“....and Clint kept complaining about his customers and colleagues so it’s kind of like I know everything that’s going on in here. But…”

“I know your name too.”

He blushed. He had cut the never ending flow of words coming out from Bucky for a stupid sentence like that. He realised now that the rambling had stopped, that he missed his voice already, and he felt so immature about that. 

Steve, you need to get a grip. You don’t even know the guy, you just have a schoolgirl crush on him.

“I mean, I know Natasha too, and she knows you. She talks quite a lot about work and said you were one of the other sane people coming here to save her from boredom.”

Their food has arrived sometime when he was deep in thought, but neither touched it. Steve grabbed a few chips and tried to stuff them in his mouth, only to fail quite miserably. He blushed again. He was so clumsy when he was nervous. Bucky was now silent, watching him. He could almost see the cogs in his head trying to figure him out. He didn't know what to think of the situation, and suspected that the whole thing was intentional. He wasn't sure if he liked that. 

“What if we started this whole thing again?”

Once more, Bucky had talked. He was a little more calm now, Steve could see. His shoulders were more relaxed, his lips were shaped in a _(really attractive)_ easy smile, and his eyes were soft. Most of all, his voice was calm and steady. Steve took a calming breath, straightened in spine and reach his hand out.

“Hi, I’m Steve Rogers. I study art therapy and I draw comics for a living. I see you here from time to time.”

“Hi Steve”, answered Bucky with a chuckle. “I’m James but my friends call me Bucky. Vet. Nice to meet you.”

***

“Are they talking? Really? Oh God they are.”

“Maria, shut up for the love of all that’s holy they're going to hear us.”

“This is really happening. We made that happen.”

Natasha, cat like, appeared behind her two colleagues and said very calmly. “If you don’t return to your section now, there will be consequences.”

The two girls jumped and promptly went back to what they were supposed to be doing. Natasha let out a breath. The situation was stressful enough without having to deal with angry customers on top of the rest. 

She forced herself to check her own section one more time before going to deal with table 27. She promptly ordered a couple more drinks and brought a refill of sauce before heading toward her favorites customers. 

She made sure to arrive silently, at first, and try to listen to what was being said. Mostly, she didn't want to interrupt anything, and therefore was pretty surprised when the conversation was...movies? She put in all this effort and they ended up talking about movies? Well, that’s a start... Rome wasn't build in one day, and she wasn’t expecting them to start making babies on the table.

She went back out of sight for awhile and then walked straight back to them, making sure that at least one of them saw her coming.

“You would expect that after almost five years not watching a single movie I’d have something interesting to look forward too, but no! Reboot...remake...that’s all there is!”

“Come on Bucky. Pacific Rim? Edge of Tomorrow? Jupiter Ascending! They were good movies.”

“Three. In five years? I rest my case.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but, are you boys about done? I’m hate to do it but we’re gonna need this table back pretty soon…sorry fellas.”

Both men tried to make her stop apologizing to have to throw them out, while trying to pay for the other. It was actually quite adorable. She took a couple of minutes to watch them awkwardly leave, and then wave goodbye at each other once outside.

Nobody in the restaurant missed the way they both turned back to watch the other walking away.

***

It was saturday night and, for once, Natasha was off. In all honesty, she was waiting for her phone to ring, a panicked Pepper on the other end, asking her to come ASAP because they were overwhelmed.

Saturday night off when you work in hospitality is a little bit like all the planets of the solar system in perfect alignment: It only happens once every millennium and might end up in global destruction.

Even more rare, she was also off on Sunday _(she was waiting on the new rotation for the next week end was almost sure she would be doing the next week non stop. From experience, the weekend off never came without a return of Karma the week after)._

But right now she was lounging in her sofa, watching Inside Out for the third time with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. Life was perfect and nothing could happen _(well, it wasn’t, but right now she wanted to kid herself into thinking that it was the case)_. She looked at the clock and realized that Steve was due to arrive in a little bit more than four hours. Plenty of time to finish the film and take a shower, maybe even start on what she was planning for dinner. No delivery tonight. She was feeling like being a real adult tonight. Plenty of time also to plan how she would make Steve talk to her about why he didn’t want to ask Bucky out. Not a piece of cake. 

Something was definitely wrong and she was really worried for her friend. Bucky was a nice guy. Clint had vouched for him and there was nobody in the world that she trusted more than the bartender _(even if she knew he was hiding something about his past and had a personal grudge against him right now)_. She was also sure that Steve liked him, so why?

Natasha slowly sipped the last of her drink while watching Riley growing up on screen. Once the after credit scene had finished, she slowly moved out of her blanket cocoon and went in the direction of the bathroom.

Somewhere near the end of the film, she had decided that what she needed was a bath. She usually didn’t like to take daytime baths, but she needed some deep relaxation. The week had been extremely stressful, between work and their matchmaking. Pepper was a stress ball, running up and down trying to prevent Stark creating a riot in the staff, leaving Natasha in charge of making sure everything was up to their usual standards. 

The restaurant wasn’t a michelin stars place, but everybody was making damn sure to give the best service they could to every customers coming in. The standards were as high as a gourmet kitchen.

But enough with work. She grabbed her favorite essential oil and put a couple of drops in the water. the light aroma already filling the small room. She dropped her favorite bath bomb and watched the color slowly spread in the water. She often found the preparation of the bath sometime as soothing as having it.

She marinated for forty minutes, the soft music coming out of her phone next to her slowly lulling her to sleep. Slow breath, just the light noises of the atmospheric sound, the sound of the water moving slowly around her skin. Sometimes, she would put her head under water for a couple of second, just to hear the beating of her heart in her ears. After a quick cold shower _(she loved the sensation of the cold after a long and mellowing hot bath)_ , she rolled herself in a fluffy towel before going in her room. 

Three more hours and Steve would be here. He had texted her earlier to say he would be bringing some desert today. A cake apparently. Natasha was pretty excited about it. They had decided on a simple meal today, but Natasha was feeling adventurous. Where she could have bought everything but she was feeling like cooking today. She started chopping some potatoes to make a mash. Next to her, the chicken filets were defrosting. Homemade chicken nuggets with mash potatoes and a salad. Nothing complicated.

She spiced the water a bit for the potatoes with some chopped garlic and onions, before adding some salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Some chicken stock, basil and thyme later. She dropped the potatoes in the liquid and left it there to boil. She didn’t cook very often, but she enjoyed the creativity, the freedom of making something yourself the exact way you liked it. She was usually too tired and lazy for more than a quick sandwich and didn't want to bother to cook just for herself most of the time. Cooking for other people, however, was always a pleasure.

Steve arrived right on time, as usual, carrying a white box and a pack of beer. He quickly made himself at home, putting the cake and the drinks in the fridge, keeping just two on the counter next to him. He turned around with a big smile.

“How are you?”

“I had a really quiet Saturday so far. An idea of what you wanna watch tonight ?”

“I’ve got two options for you. First is a sci-fi movie called Sunshine? Something about a ship send into the sun to restart it. Never watched it before but I read good reviews.”

“Sounds good, what’s the second one?”

“Ah this one is one of my favorites. It’s from a comic, The Losers? It’s about a Special Forces team that is played by their boss and wanna take revenge. It’s much better than it sounds, I swear.”

“Ok, I trust you. If we start early enough we can actually watch both. If you wanna crash here it’s no problem by the way. I’m also off tomorrow.”

“Sweet!” 

***

They sat down together in a comfortable silence while the first movie’s end credits rolled on the screen _(they decided on Sunshine, keeping the more light hearted one for the second part of the evening)_. Natasha slowly untangled their legs, walking in the direction of the kitchen to get some more beers.

“So, care to tell me what’s bothering you?”

She hadn’t heard Steve moving behind her, but she wasn't really surprised to see him here.

“I...wanted to talk to you about something.” she started.

“Ok, that sound serious?”

“Why don’t you go out with James?”

Steve was an open book. It was as easy to read him than to watch the meteo. She knew the second she asked that question that he was upset with her. 

“I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but I’m really worried you’re letting go of a good guy. Clint keeps telling me how much he seems to like you and you seemed to get on pretty well last time.”

“Natasha, I don’t...I don’t date.”

“But why?”

“It’s...complicated.”

She took the beer out the fridge and dropped them hardly on the counter, suddenly really angry with him. 

“You wanna know what’s complicated? I’m going to tell you. It’s complicated to see you throwing away a good thing, to see you smile at him when he is not looking but not doing anything about it. It’s complicated seeing him watching you when you leave. And trust me, I know. Oh i know it’s complicated to go out with someone without knowing if you will ever starting feeling something for them. Everything else is great, but something is missing. But you really like them, so there has to be something wrong with you that when they tells you they love you you just laugh at them and say that love is for children. You hurt them, you know you do, but you don’t know how to fix it...”

It was the most that Steve had ever heard Natasha say but he knew that, at some point in her rant, the focus had shifted away from her original one.

“We are not talking about me anymore, are we Nat? What are you talking about?”

“I’m just really tired, Steve, and I don’t understand what I want anymore. And I certainly don’t understand why you would refuse something like that when you can have it. It would be so easy for you and you just...”

“Is it Clint?”

“No, it’s not Clint. It’s me. He asked me to move in with him, last week. He said that he loved me.”

“And it is a problem because…?”

“Because I can’t love him back. I like going out with him, having fun, sex is great, but I don’t...feel anything…”

“And is that...just with him or?”

“Allways been like that.” There were a long silence, until Steve grabbed her chin and brought her gaze to meet his.

“Natasha. I’m going to ask you a very straightforward question.” He waited until she nodded. “Have you ever heard of Aromanticism?” She shaked her head. “Ok, sweetie, come with me.”

He took her hand and took her back in the living room and made her sit back down on the sofa. He sat next to her, her body feeling so small against his, her hand cradled in his. He made sure she was settled before starting to speak with a soft voice.

“Ok, so, Aromanticism is when you don't feel romantic attraction toward people. You can be friends, want to have sex with them, but you don’t wanna date them. I know some Aro people in relationships. It’s just a matter of being...honest with the other person and making sure they are aware of what you do or do not feel. For some people it just takes time, a very long time, before feelings start to happen, and sometime it never does.” He stopped, opening his arm wide for her. “I feel like maybe you need to hug that out.”

The redhead slowly fell into his arms. She had never realised how much this was bothering her, how much it was eating her. She breathed slowly, listening to the grounding sound of his heartbeat.

“And for me,” She wasn’t expecting him to continue speaking. She tried to push away from him but he kept her close, obviously not wanting her to watch him while he spoke. “I’m Asexual. which is the other weird child of the A spectrum. I,well, I don’t wanna have sex. I don’t feel sexual attraction. I consider myself panromantic, which mean I would date anybody without having a second thought about their genders, but I’m not in it for the sex. Which, in some ways, makes it even more complicated than you being aromantic, because not a lot of people would accept never getting any.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?” She whispered.

“Because until today, every time I have tried, I’ve been told I was sick, or abnormal, or that I haven’t found the right person. Or maybe I was just virgin and didn’t know any better. Which I’m not, by the way. I had sex, like everybody in high school, with my first girlfriend, Peggy. I got off normally, I guess, but I was about excited about it as I would be to watch the whole Twilight Saga. It always felt like something I had to do, that I had to want, and somehow, it never was the case. A woman once told me that I’ve just never had good sex. Could be the case for all I know, even if I find it insulting to Peggy, who was great. Honestly, I just find that more boring than a full season of the Kardashian. So that’s why I don’t date, I just don’t want to fall in love with someone to just hear them tell me that if I won’t give them any, I’m not worth their time. Because unfortunately, for a lot of people, love is not enough without sex.”

“I’m sorry Steve.”

“Don’t be. I have made my peace with it a long time ago.” He paused. “Let’s watch the next movie? I have a feeling we both need something with a lot of explosion to ease the atmosphere.”

***

The conversation hadn’t changed anything at the end. If anything, it had made Steve a little bit more open about the whole thing. Not enough to speak to Bucky but at least he had one person who he could talk to without being called a freak. He hadn’t won the war, but a victory is something.

Natasha has made sure to tell the other to drop the whole matchmaking for a while, claiming that having made them actually talk was enough for now and that they needed to do the rest themselves. 

Actually, the two boys seemed to talk a little bit more every day, which never stopped making the redhead smirk. She wasn't sure if Steve was doing it to please her or for himself, but that was something. 

Finally, after was seemed like month, Christmas arrived. The whole restaurant was closed both on the the 24th and the 25th, something that nobody but Tony Stark could afford to do. 

The whole place was reserved for the company staff party. Shield was the bigger restaurant of the company and was the obvious choice every time something had to be organised. A couple of people in each restaurant of the city was declared the appropriate volunteer to help feeding everybody.

This year, only Clint had been chosen from their team, which meant they could count on him to give them as much alcohol as humanly drinkable. Each member of staff was allowed to bring one person with them. There would be music, famous people. In short, everything to have a good evening. Of course, they weren’t suppose to do anything to jeopardize the company's reputation, but with Tony Stark being the owner, that put the “inacceptable behavior” on a whole different level that anything they could come up with.

Steve was supposed to come and get Natasha at her apartment to take her to the party. She was ready, long black dress and high heels, her hair delicately curls on one of her shoulder.

And he was half an hour late.

To be honest, Natasha was really starting to worry. Steve wasn't the kind of guy who would stood you up without a good excuse. She had tried to call him once and sent him half a dozen text with no answers. She was about to call again when a knock on her door stopped her mid movement. She looked by the eyehole and recognised the familiar blond hair.

“Steve!” She yelled opening the door in a hurry. “Where the hell were you? I tried to call you but you weren’t answering!”

“I’m...sorry Nat, I…”

“Steve what happened? You look like shit.”

“I had a panic attack, I think. I was trying to figure out what to wear and…”

“Wait, hang on, come inside, and have a seat on the sofa.”

The big man looked so small when he walked past her she could hardly recognise her friend. She stopped by the kitchen, filling up a glass of water before bringing it to him. He was sitting, slightly crouched on himself, his head in his hands.

Her voice was soft when she said: “Drink this and tell me what happened.”

He was silent for a while, taking slow sips of the water, obviously trying to make sense of what happened himself.

“I was going through my wardrobe. I wanted to find something nice to wear you know. I wanted to look good, because I know Bucky will be there. I wanted him to see me. And then I realised what I was doing and I started to panic. I started to wonder if Bucky wanted to see me, if I wasn't making things up in my head, and finally I thought, and what if he wanted, you know... And that made me panic even more.”

He paused, his breath starting to get quicker again. He fumbled for a second for his pocket, grabbing an inhaler to take a puff of it. He was quiet for a minute, and then after taking another gulp of water, he continued.

“What if he wants me? What if he asks me for something I can’t, I won’t, give him.”

She softly slipped onto the sofa, taking his large frame against her. He felt so small against her chest, more like a scared child than the large adult she was used to.

“Steve, I don’t think you have to worry about anything like that. Have you seen the guy? He is so kind with everybody, he tips even more than you, and that’s a bit, and more so, he is a disabled vet. And I know we do not acknowledge that fact, but it’s here. And that brings a fuckload of issues, things that we don’t know about. I think you really need to go talk to him, about everything, and be honest on how you both feel.”

Steve looked a her, and drank the last of his water in one gulp. “I know you’re right. But that’s not making it any easier.”

“Yeah. I know. But I also know that without you, I wouldn’t have talk to Clint about my issues, and I would have lost something important to me. So now, please, do the same. I don’t want you to lose something even before having it.” 

“And if you’re wrong?”

“Well, I will personally throw you a pity party and throttle Barnes.”

“Sounds like a plan. Should we go? Before I change my mind again.”

They left pretty soon after that and arrived at the party only an hour late. Natasha explained that it was called being fashionably late, and took the whole responsibility, claiming she had been indecisive about her shoes.

Stark parties were always something excessive and this one wasn’t different. Natasha didn’t recognise a third of the people there, and she was supposed to be part of the same company. The music was already blasting and the light so low they could barely see where they were going. After a long moment of fighting through the crowd, they took shelter at the bar where Clint was in deep conversation with Bucky. Natasha gave a nudge to Steve, making him blush but forcing him to take a decisive step in the brunet’s direction.

“Bucky, hi, how are you ?”

“Steve! I didn’t know you would be there!”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.”

“Well, you’re right. Can I get you a drink anyway?”

The blond nodded and sat down next to him, while Clint was putting a whiskey in front of him. The boys were silent for a moment, obviously trying to find something to talk about. Natasha turned toward the bartender who was trying hard not to scrutinize the two men sat down next to them. She turned toward them in a swift moment.

“Bucky! I’m so happy to see you here. How are you?”

The brunet seemed relieved by the interruption. “I’m alright I guess. I’m visiting my family tomorrow, gotta have to survive the usual questions.”

“Oh? About…” She gestured at his arm, not sure on how to phrase it.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “that, and why I’m still not dating anybody probably.” His eyes darted to Steve on that before adding in a high pitched voice, obviously imitating his mother. “James, my dear, you’ve been single since you came back! It’s not healthy!”

The blond blushed at that and Natasha laughed before deciding that it was her cue for leaving the scene.

“Ok boys, I love talking to you, but...Clint looks like he needs me. Good luck with your mother, James.” 

She winked at them and turned around before either of them could say anything, and walked toward the very far end of the bar where Clint was talking with the rest of the girls. He welcomed her with a kiss before going back to the discussion he was having with Maria. Darcy, nursing a very bright pink cocktail, was watching their two regulars with a worried expression.

“Do you think they will be alright ?” She finally asked after a few minutes.

“They have some issues to talk about, but I’m sure they will.”

They stayed silent, both watching the two men getting less tense by the second. Natasha smiled as Darcy held a breath when Steve tentatively put his hand on Bucky’s. After that, the two girls went to dance for a while, trying to give them some kind of privacy. The DJ hired by Stark was called Vision and was far from a bad one. He was apparently a friend of his and as far as Natasha could tell was doing a great job. Later, she caught Steve dancing with Bucky in a far off corner and then, lost them to the crowd.

***

It was almost midnight, Natasha was too hot, maybe a little bit too drunk and she needed air. The number of people on the dance floor seemed suddenly to have been multiplied by three. Midnight was almost there and she knew Stark was planning on a countdown. She didn't want to be there for that. She needed a smoke and she needed one now. She signaled Clint where she was going and took off in the direction of the garden terrace at the back of the restaurant. She was seated in a far off corner hidden from sight, smoking wasn’t technically allowed, when the door opened again.

“Wow, I’m happy to be out of there. It was starting to be too much.” It was definitely Bucky’s voice.

“I’m impressed that you managed that much of a crowd.”

“Yeah, took me a while, if I’m honest, but Bruce is amazing, even if he is no mental therapist. He had some really good calming technique up his sleeves. He helped me so much. More than all the shrinks i’ve seen since I came back honestly.”

“He seems like a great guy.”

“He is the best therapist I could have hoped for. It’s Clint who recommend him to me. He was very good with my physical therapy but he had done a lot for me on a mental level too.”

“That’s good to hear.” She could hear in Steve’s voice that he was nervous. She subrepticely tried to have a look at what was going on. 

Steve was standing against the wall, trying to look relaxed, while Bucky was standing in front of him, getting closer by the second.

“He helped me deal with the way I was seeing myself and…” He stopped.

“Bucky?”

“I really wants to kiss you, Steve.” She could feel Steve panic from where she was. She took a breath and closed her eyes, almost wishing she was somewhere else.

“I...Bucky, I really want you to…”

“I feel a ‘but’ in this sentence.”

“I...don’t want you to get any idea…”

“If you don’t wanna date me, it’s not a big deal you know.”

“It’s not that. On the contrary, I’ve wanted to get to know you since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“So what’s the problem? I can see you don’t have any problem with my arm.”

“It’s not you…”

“If you finish this sentence, I might yell.” Bucky didn’t sound upset, but Natasha had some idea that he was starting to be really confused by the whole thing. For the fifth time since they arrived, she sent a silent prayer to Steve to just say it.

“It’s not that easy, Bucky.”

“What is Steve? What is so hard to tell me? What is so terrible that you won’t even try anything with me?”

“I...I’m…” He paused, eyes fixed on the floor between his feet. _Oh my god Steve, just say it!_ Natasha thought.

There were a long pause, and finally, Bucky was the one to break it.

“You know, when I came back from the war, the first thing that came to my mind was that nobody will ever want to see me naked. I have a lot of scars, Steve, on top of missing an arm. The prosthetic helps with my everyday life, but every night for a very long time, I would take it off and see what was left of me and think ‘who would want that’. And to be fair, I didn’t want that in my bed either. For a couple of month after that, I stopped looking at myself in mirrors completely. I still have days where I can barely handle it, but Bruce helped a lot with that.” He paused. “Before, I never had a huge urge for sex. I was normal I guess but it was never a big thing for me. After, it was literally nonexistent. My first couple of therapists put it on the meds and the depression but now, it’s been almost five years and I can proudly say that I don’t need the pills as much anymore. However, my libido is still on holiday most day though. I’m still not comfortable with how I look, and maybe I will never be. I’ve had some physical relationships since then, and if I don’t dislike it, I’ve realised that it’s not what I’m in for. So if you’re afraid that I’m just into you for your body and I’ll leave in the morning, I’m not that person.”

Natasha was almost feeling sick to hear all of that. She shouldn't be here. But there were no way she could sneak back inside without revealing herself. She could hear Steve sniffing. Bucky took a step and snuggled between Steve’s knees before lifting softly his face toward him. She imagined him with a small timid smile and soft eyes. 

“Please. Tell me.” His voice was so low that Natasha barely heard it.

“I’m not just into for your body either.” The silence that followed was so thick you would have need a sword to cut it. After what seemed to be forever, Natasha heard a chuckle She tried to look again and saw Bucky going forward and kiss Steve tenderly, just a light peck. Something inside of her did a victory dance.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“No, Bucky. I mean I will never be. I’m...I’m Asexual, I don’t like sex.”

 _FINALLY!_ There were a silence and, for a second, Natasha thought she had yelled that out loud instead of in her head. But finally, Bucky ended up laughing, obviously struggling to say something.

“Oh my god, Steve, did you hear any of what I told you? I don’t want sex either! I think they call it Gray? I’m not against it. I’m just not that comfortable with it because of my disability, but even if I want, it’s so rare it’s almost non-existent.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“No, silly. You’re perfect for me.”

The smile on Steve’s face was like a thousand suns. Natasha stopped looking when Bucky obviously went for another kiss. She lighten up another cigarette and smile. Mission complete.

***

**2 months later, Valentine’s Day.**

“I want this table there, in the corner.”

“I’m sorry madam, but I unfortunately can’t give you this table.”

“How do you dare telling me that, am I not a guest ? I want this table.”

“I am really sorry madam, this table has been requested. It is a very special table for those guests. I have this one over there which has a similar setting that I can prepare for you.”

“I want to have a view on the garden miss. It’s valentine's day and I know for a fact that my boyfriend is planning on proposing.”

Darcy had the patience of a saint in her best day, but it was the tenth person to fight for this table today and that was the last drop. She opened her mouth to say exactly what she was thinking of her whole engagement when :

“Well, I assure you it’s going to be as lovely on the other side of the restaurant. This table is reserved on my name, and I intent of keeping it.” Said a new voice behind the lady. Bucky turned back toward the desk and smiled. “Hello Darcy, Is Steve here already ?”

“No, he isn’t, Do you want to seat at the bar or at your table ?”

“Our table is fine, he should be here really soon.”

“It’s already ready for you. I'll send him to you when he arrives.”

“Thanks doll. Good luck for today.”

The woman watched him with dark eyes sitting on the table she was so adamant on getting.

“How come you let this slob getting my table, I just asked you to be seated there !”

“Madam, this gentleman has been a regular or ours for more than two years, it’s your first time with us. I offered you a similar table, now I’m going to ask you to either take it or leave the premises.”

The woman was now red with anger and stormed out of the restaurant in a flurry of insult. She bumped into Steve large frame on her way out. Darcy smiled at him.

“Oh, Steve, good to see you. Bucky is already here, have a good evening.”

The blond man smiled and said a quick thank you before walking over table 27. He arrived from behind Bucky and Darcy saw him put his hand on the brunet's eyes. She watched them laugh together before exchanging a kiss. Steve then sat down and grabbed Bucky’s prosthetic hand to laced their fingers together.

She smiled, and she could see the rest of the staff smile with her.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are the best way to tell me if you've liked it.  
> I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it !
> 
> I'm gonna go back trying to write the part 2 of Memories in Frames, and if you feel like coming to say hello on tumblr ;p czeriah.tumblr.com


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